


New Tune

by punchbowls



Category: Transformers: Prime
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I LOVE HIM OK, Jazz-centric, Team as Family, Whump, beginning is kinda robot gory?, memes jazz is gonna meme
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-17
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-20 11:01:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20674286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punchbowls/pseuds/punchbowls
Summary: Jazz has been on Earth, scrounging for scraps of energon and busting up 'Cons when he gets the chance. When his crashed shuttle is discovered, will he survive to find out if there are other Autobots on Earth besides himself?// mates, i am making shit up as i go along. there will be probable inaccurate medical procedure info, inaccurate measures of cybertronian time, and potential plot holes as far as beginning info. i just needed a push to get jazz to the team and some h/c so there it is yeehaw





	1. one

A small, white vehicle with blue and red stripes down its center raced down the road. Music blasted from the car as it turned into an empty lot and spun several doughnuts. There was a loud cheer, and a long-suffering groan from inside. A third voice chuckled as the car parked next to the lot’s equally empty warehouse. 

“These new struts and wheels work like magic! Thanks my man.”

“Ugh. I’ve aided and abetted you in traffic misdemeanors now,” said a woman, dressed in mechanic’s coveralls, as she slid out of the driver’s seat.

“You’re both getting ticketed if I throw up,” said a man. His face was pale and he held a hand to his stomach as he climbed out.

The car’s engine revved and a chuckle came from inside. “Just don’t get anything on the seats huh? Anyway ain’t you supposed to be used to high speed chases?”

“It’s different when I’m the one driving,” the officer said.

“Then it’s the safety dance of driving,” the other said, “At least with Jazz we can  _ really  _ act like we come from out of this world.”

“Ahhh yeeaah!” Sounds came from the car as it began to shift and shape until it was a robot, towering over the mechanic and the officer.  _ Safety Dance _ began to play from somewhere inside the robot, and it began to do said dance in time with the mechanic.

“Come on, Mike, don’t you wanna leave this world behind?” the mechanic said. 

“No thanks, Andi, I’ll leave that to you and Jazz.” The officer tapped the ground with his foot. “Happy earthling, right here.”

“Earth is pretty cool. Y’all got the best sounds I ever heard,” said Jazz as  _ Safety Dance _ ended. 

As the song faded out, another sound filled the trio’s ears. It grew louder by the second. 

“Uh oh, we got company,” said Mike, stepping away to look past the building. “Looks like jets.”

“Way ahead a’ ya,” said Jazz, already transforming back into a car. 

“Sounds like jets,” commented Andi.

“That’s weird,” said Mike, raising his voice as the roar of engines grew louder. “It’s some kind of drone trailing an F-15 Eagle.”

“So?” mouthed Andi with a shrug as the jets passed over.

“Seems funny-”

Jazz revved his engine and bumped into Andi. “Get in. Now.”

“How come?”

“Just do it,” said Jazz. Both his doors flung open. Andi and Mike shared a glance, but climbed inside. 

Immediately the doors shut and locked and Jazz backed into the abandoned warehouse. The sound of the jets grew louder once again and the two humans peered out the windshield, trying to see outside the warehouse doors. 

“Are they circling back?” wondered Mike.

“They can’t have seen us,” muttered Jazz, “Then again, if that’s who I think it is…”

“What? Who is it, Jazz?” asked Andi. 

“Decepticons.”

“You mean…”

“The people who destroyed your home?” Mike finished.

The roar of engines drowned out whatever answer Jazz uttered, but the two humans knew they guessed right. The engines faded and Jazz transformed, setting the humans gently on the ground. He moved to the warehouse doors to look outside. He placed a finger to the side of his helm and scanned the sky and surrounding area.

“Scrap,” he breathed, “They’re heading straight for my ship.”

“What would they want with a crashed ship?” Andi asked.

“Same reason Autobots would check a Decepticon one. Survivors, intel, at the very least easy energon scraps. I have all three. My ship’s got data sticks of intel they can’t get their hands on.”

“Go,” said Andi, “We can make it home.”

Jazz nodded and transformed, and with a squeal of tires, he was gone.

* * *

“Optimus, I am picking up an Autobot distress signal,” Ratchet said, turning from the scanners.

“What? Where?” Bulkhead asked. 

“New bots?” Miko asked, leaning on the railing.

“Or a trap,” said Arcee.

“The northern sector of the Rocky Mountains in Montana,” supplied Ratchet, “It appeared only seconds ago.”

“Prepare a ground bridge, Bulkhead, Arcee, Bumblebee, with me. Be ready for anything that may be on the other side.”

The team drove through the ground bridge and transformed with weapons at the ready. There was no bot in sight in the twilight, but smoke rose in places from the remains of a crashed shuttle. Optimus’ face guard slid away as they inspected the outside, weapons ready for any hostile movement. 

Bumblebee beeped rapidly and Optimus nodded. 

“This ship has been here for an extended period of time,” he said. 

“But the smoke and energon is fresh,” concluded Arcee, inspecting a pool of blue liquid. 

The Autobots moved inside the shuttle, where they found evidence of a violent skirmish. Energon stained the floor and was splattered in places along the wall. Arcee tensed as her eyes fell on deep scratches in the wall that were shaped in familiar pattern. Bumblebee beeped again to get his team’s attention, and they moved toward him. 

“Old data sticks?” asked Bulkhead. 

“These are old, old. They haven’t been used in centuries,” Arcee said.

“They’re completely crushed,” added Bulkhead. 

Optimus inspected the data sticks. “These were used on Iacon in the early days of the war and held many Autobot secrets.”

“Did the Decepticons…?” Bulkhead’s question trailed off. 

“These are damaged beyond repair, as is the memory banks of ship’s computer. Given the lack of a body, the Decepticons must have hope of extracting the information from the Autobot who piloted this shuttle,” Optimus said. 

Bumblebee beeped determinedly. 

“How? We have no way of finding the Decepticon warship,” Arcee responded. 

“We must try,” Optimus said. He placed two fingers on the side of his helm, “ Ratchet, prepare a ground bridge.”


	2. two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> oof ouch jazz's bones

Jazz’s whole body ached. He’d been on the Decepticon ship a little over a week, and undergone several interrogation methods, none of them pleasant. While Jazz had destroyed the data sticks, the Decepticons believed he still had the information stored in his own data banks. He had right until he was captured. Then, he deleted the information and when he said he didn’t know what was on the sticks, he told the truth. That didn’t mean the Decepticons believed him. But as long as they did, they kept him online.

“Jazz, first lieutenant to Optimus Prime and head of Autobot Special Operations… Megatron will be pleased to have your head as a trophy when this is all over,” Starscream crooned. “Why don’t you tell me what I want to know, one lieutenant to another, and I shall make certain your death is painless… instead of continuing to drag this out longer than it needs to.”

Jazz peered at Starscream, then hung his head. “F-Fine… I-..I’ll tell you.”

“Yes?” Starscream leaned in closer. 

“Swerve’s high-grade energon recipes.”

Starscream growled and raked his claws across Jazz’s chestplates. “You-! You will suffer for your insolence.”

“Is that not what’s been happening the last few mega-cycles?” Jazz asked.

Starscream cut the chains that held Jazz to the ceiling and the Autobot fell hard to the floor. His arms protested against the sudden change and he ground his teeth against the pain. Starscream shoved him onto his back and dug a heel into his chest. 

“I’m almost glad you’re being so stubborn, I’m going to enjoy this.” 

* * *

A couple cycles later, Jazz’s systems rebooted slowly. Explosions of pain burst all over where Starscream had scraped his claws. His head pounded where it had been shoved into the wall once or twice. He closed his optics against the pain, futilely waiting for it to subside. He looked at the ceiling and realized he hadn’t been strung up again. Now was as good a chance as any. Jazz forced himself to his feet and prayed to Primus he had enough energy.

He faced the cell doors and concentrated. Moments later, they were blown apart by sonic blast. Alarms blared. He transformed and drove through guards, knocking them over. Blaster fire followed him, but he soon outsped them. He came to a room and with the chains from his cell, incapacitated the vehicons inside. He flew to the computers and got to work. More alarms sounded as he turned off the war ship’s engines and other systems. 

“Autobot!” snarled a voice behind him. 

Megatron stood on the other side of the room with Starscream and Soundwave on either side of him. 

“Megatron, can’t say it’s good to see ya again,” Jazz quipped. He stumbled as the ship lurched. 

“Starscream, you let the prisoner escape?” 

Starscream began to stutter for an excuse, but Megatron continued. “You better get this ship working again; Soundwave, bring the prisoner to me.”

“Soundwave? You spawn of a glitch, you’re still alive?” Jazz said as the Decepticon advanced. “Mm, still not talking I see.”

Tentacles shot out from behind Soundwave and lunged at Jazz. The Autobot dodged one and grabbed another. He yanked it hard, and swung Soundwave into the wall.

“If you were Starscream, that would have been personal.” Jazz jerked Soundwaves appendage again and steered him into the other. The two Decepticons slammed into the control centers and Jazz laughed.

The moment was brief and ended when a blade sunk into the Autobot’s shoulder. Jazz cried out and Megatron spun him around and grabbed him by the throat. Jazz choked and clawed at Megatron’s hand. 

“You have always caused more trouble than your worth,” the Decepticon leader growled. 

The ship lurched again and he glared at his two soldiers, still struggling to their feet. “I said get this ship working again!”

“Did I push too many buttons?” wheezed Jazz.

Megatron slammed Jazz against the wall and pinned him there with his arm. “What was on the data sticks from Iacon?!”

“Deleted them from my memory core days ago.”

Megatron screamed in frustration and drove his blade into Jazz’s side, causing him to cry out. 

“Lord Megatron! Soundwave and I have steadied the ship,” Starscream said.

“Excellent. It seems your little plan failed miserably, Autobot,” Megatron said, “Now I can take my time extinguishing your spark.”

He slid his fingers beneath the end of Jazz’s visor. Underneath, his optics widened. Megatron smiled as he tugged lightly and paused for a moment. Then he ripped the visor from Jazz’s face. 

The scream echoed above the alarms.

“Autobots!” screeched Starscream. 

Megatron looked over his shoulder in time to see Optimus Prime appearing through a ground bridge. The Autobot pinned to the wall must have dropped their shielding. Again he growled in frustration and twisted the blade as he pulled it free from the Autobot to engage Optimus. Jazz could only let out a hitched whimper and slide to the floor. 

He cried out and pressed his hands to his optics as energon leaked into them. He heard the sound of blaster fire and metal against metal, but it was garbled and louder than it should have been. The light from the blasters and open ground bridge was to bright. Jazz screamed as his systems overloaded. 

The red and white shape of a bot entered into his vision and servos danced over his wounds. The touch was brought even more agony, but he was too weak to struggle away. His name was called, but it was too loud. Someone told him to focus, but he couldn’t. Focus on what? There was too much. Servos slid under him and he groaned as he was lifted from the ground.

“Jazz, I need you to focus. Stay online,” urged Ratchet, as he assessed the mech’s wounds. He grunted as he lifted him out of the pool of energon that had formed beneath them. “Jazz stay awake- Optimus!” he shouted, heading for the ground bridge, “I have him!”

Jazz’s optics flickered and he groaned. “R-ratchet…?”

“Yes, Jazz, you’re in safe hands.”

A tentacle from Soundwave slammed into Ratchet from the side and knocked the Autobots to the ground. Ratchet swore and jumped in front of his patient. Soundwave towered before him. A servo grabbed Ratchet’s and pulled him down. 

In a clumsy, but effective motion, Jazz surged upward and mustered enough energy to hit Soundwave with a sonic blast. The Decepticon flew through the air and Jazz crashed to the floor. 

“Jazz!” Ratchet scrambled to him, and picked him up again, “You fool!”

Jazz’s optics flickered and dimmed in reply. 

“Not on my watch, you daft idiot,” snapped the medic, running through the groundbridge. 

“Autobots! Fall back!” Optimus shouted. He disengaged from Megatron and followed his bots through the groundbridge. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *spins on my heelys* so ironically, i can't fucking draw transformers on my computer. my fingers are like 'fuck you we only like paper for robots' and im suffering.


	3. Three

Jazz heard voices somewhere above him. They were loud and garbled and he couldn’t make out what they were saying. He could make out that he was in a lot of pain. He took a moment to assess the worst places, namely his face, his side, and his shoulder. His sensors were still overloaded and his head throbbed. His spark flickered in panic when he remembered what happened to his visor. Why was he still alive? Why didn’t Megatron just kill him already? Was that what was being discussed above him? 

Tension wound through his body. No, he wouldn’t die like lying down like this. If they were going to take him out, he was going to go down giving them the fight of their lives. He’d make them pay as well as he could for what they did to Cybertron and his friends. 

* * *

“How is he?” Optimus asked, looking down at the Autobot on the medical berth. 

“There were a couple times he almost didn’t make it. But he’s stable. For now,” Ratchet answered, “He lost a lot of energon and went through a lot of trauma. With his visor ripped off, his audio and sight processors will amplify information when he wakes up. It was a clear tear though, I’ll be able to repair the visor now that he’s stable and reattach it.”

“He has sensory overloads?” a quiet voice asked. Rafael was watching from the platform above. 

The two Autobots looked at him and Ratchet nodded. 

“The visor helps to process things at a more manageable rate for him,” the medic explained. 

“And you took it from me!” shouted Jazz. He surged upwards, swinging a fist into Ratchet’s face. He pushed past Optimus and spun on his foot. “And you won’t take anything from anyone else!”

He raised his fists, but his legs shook and his optics flickered violently. 

“Jazz, stand down,” ordered Optimus, “You are in the company of friends.”

“Don’t lie to me,” Jazz tried to snap. His frame quivered and he dropped to his knees.

Optimus moved forward, as Ratchet regained his footing. 

“Optimus, be careful,” the medic warned. 

The Prime nodded and proceeded towards Jazz, who shuffled backwards before putting his hands around his head and biting back a scream. 

“What’s going on?” asked Bulkhead, coming from the otherside of the base with Miko on his shoulder. Ratchet shushed him and waved him back.

Optimus knelt and gently took Jazz’s hands. “Jazz, you are safe.” 

Jazz whimpered. A clicking sound came from Optimus and from somewhere inside of him, soft music started playing. It wasn’t like anything Raf or Miko had heard before, but it could have been the most beautiful. 

As it played, Jazz’s tremors slowly ceased. A few pained blinks later, he lifted his head to squint at Optimus. A shudder ran through his frame. “Orion?”

The leader smiled sadly at him. “Hello, old friend.”

“Y-you’re alive?”

“Yes. A team of us is. You are safe now.”

Another shudder ran through him as he vented in relief, and Jazz crumpled into Optimus. The Prime lifted the unconscious Autobot and carefully laid him onto the medical berth again.

Ratchet set to work with repairs once again and put Jazz into a medical power down to keep him from waking unexpectedly again. Hours ticked by and the wounds were repaired fully, the visor returned, and energon levels returned to normal. Ratchet finally decided it was safe for Jazz to wake up on his own.

Twelve hours after the operations, Jazz’s optics blinked on. His head was groggy, but not being bombarded. He raised his hand and ghosted his fingers over his visor. 

“Careful, it may still be sensitive.”

Jazz looked around him and his spark swelled. “Ratchet?”

“Hello, Jazz. Oh-! Careful, careful,” Ratchet chuckled as Jazz all but leapt to him and embraced him tight. 

“It’s so good to see you,” Jazz said. 

The medic smiled and returned the embrace. “It is good to see you also.”

Jazz pulled away and glanced around the base. “What happened?”

“We came across an Autobot distress signal, only to find an empty shuttle. A few days later the location of the Decepticon ship appeared on our scanners and we were able to retrieve you. Come, let’s find Optimus and you can tell us what happened.”

Once the Autobot leader was in sight, he received the same greeting as Ratchet. After the reunion, Jazz began his story. 

“It was during the exodus, I was just about to get in a pod when I remembered where important data was being held. I just couldn’t risk it falling into Decepticon hands, so I went back for it. After that, all I could find was a small shuttle. I launched and went into stasis for a stellar-cycles before being sucked into Earth’s gravity. Two humans found me and woke me from stasis and helped me fix the ship as much as we could.

The shuttle and its equipment is old, and lacks the modern shielding and encryptions, so I only sent out an S.O.S. every once and awhile, hoping Autobots would pick it up before Decepticons. Sounds like you got it around time.”

“We are sorry we could not get to you sooner,” Optimus said, putting a hand on the shorter mech’s good shoulder.

Jazz smiled up at him. “Ain’t no big thing, I knew the dangers, and you guys found me anyway. Megatron wanted to know what was on the data sticks I destroyed. I deleted them from my memory core, but led them on until I got a chance to screw up their scrap.”

“You turned off their shielding,” Ratchet said.

Jazz nodded. “I figured if there were any Bots out here, they’d be able to pick up  _ that _ . They’ll be hurtin’ for a while too, not as much or as long as I’d like. And I’m sorry I don’t know what was on those data sticks- I … I didn’t expect to make it out of there.”

“You did well, old friend,” Optimus said, “We are glad to have you here.”

Optimus proceeded to explain the situation on Earth, the alliance with the United States, battling with the Decepticons, and the human children now under their protection. It made Jazz wonder about his two human friends. He wondered if they’d gone to the shuttle- scrap, what if ‘Cons had gone back at all? What if they were found. 

“Optimus, I need to go back to the shuttle. I need to ensure the safety of Andi and Mike,” Jazz said. 

“I agree. Ratchet?”

“Recon only, if you run into Decepticons, I want Jazz back at base immediately.”

“Understood.” Optimus transformed, followed by Jazz, and Ratchet powered up the groundbridge. 

* * *

Jazz rolled to the shuttle and transformed. He and Optimus looked and found signs that humans had been there. Tire tracks led to the shuttle, and- Jazz vented in relief- away from it. He transformed and followed them, though he already knew the way. 

Optimus waited on the opposite street corner as Jazz drove into Andi and Mike’s driveway. He beeped his horn and silhouettes jumped up in the window. The mechanic threw open the door and flung herself onto Jazz’s hood. 

“You’re okay! Are you okay?” 

Jazz chuckled. “I am now.”

Mike joined them and ran a hand across the top of the Autobot’s frame. “What happened, man? We haven’t heard from you in days and we couldn’t find you.”

Andi opened the garage door and Jazz rolled inside to transform. 

“The ‘Cons got me, wanted whatever info was on the data sticks. I deleted it all before they could get their grubby hands on it.”

“That’s my man.” Andi bumped his pede with her fist. 

“How’d you get out of there?” asked Mike.

“Friends. Fellow Autobots.” Jazz pointed to where Optimus was parked. “They found me and got me out.”

The semi on the corner flashed his lights in acknowledgement. Andi waved, then looked at Jazz. 

“So… this means you’re gonna hang with them now, huh?”

“You wanna come with me? They got some humans back at base already, a couple more shouldn’t hurt.” Jazz offered. “Ratchet might not appreciate it so much… but he can deal.” 

“I said what I said before, happy here on the ground. Human criminals are more my league, I don’t think I’d be much help with giant robots,” Mike said. 

Andi smiled, and looked at the door into the house. “I’d love to Jazz but… I have family here that needs me.”

“Well, they only have a working ground bridge anyway, can’t quite get you into space yet,” Jazz said. 

“Dang. When you get a space bridge working, hit me up. Don’t you dare ditch me here forever.” Andi brandished a finger at him and he laughed. 

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

He reached out with his finger and the mechanic hugged it. He picked up Andi, then Mike, and held them as close as he could without crushing them. 

“Thank you for everything you guys.”

“Same to you, pal,” said Mike. 

“Keep listening to good tunes,” added Andi, as Jazz set them down. 

“Oh I’ll never stop that.” Jazz smiled at them before he transformed. “I’ll be seeing you around.”

“You better!” they both shouted after him as he drove away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to b clear, andi and mike are roommates but they aren't together! mike is ace. andi is a lesbian (and staying behind bc she is very much in love with her girlfriend.)


	4. Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> holy fuck this is short

“How long have you been on Earth? Do you listen to metal? How many ‘Cons have you wrecked?”

“Two Earth years, sometimes but I like other genres more, I’m not a wrecker, but I’ve definitely wrecked a bunch,” Jazz answered Miko. 

“Bulkhead’s a wrecker! He trashes ‘em to the ground,” Miko said, swinging her fists.

“Miko…” Bulkhead shuffled slightly. 

“So I’ve heard! It is an honor to meet you, Bulkhead. Blaster spoke of you often,” Jazz said, grinning at the other bot. 

“Likewise, he always wanted to get all his pals together for engex.”

“Yeah… that would have been, well, a blast.”

“Hey, you’ve been keeping up with Miko’s rapid-fire questions pretty well,” Bulkhead said. 

Jazz grinned and ruffled the human’s hair with a finger. “Reminds of yet another friend, talking so fast and asking so many questions.”

“You have no idea,” said Jack. 

The bots chuckled and Miko rolled her eyes. 

“Autobots, there is an energon vein exposed,” Optimus announced, “Decepticons are on route. Our reserves are low, and we must extract it first. Bumblebee, Arcee with me.”

Bumblebee beeped rapidly and whirred. 

“I get Raf for you Bee. Ratchet hasn’t cleared me for battle yet.”

“Why is Raf still at school anyway?” Miko asked.

“After school coding thing,” Jack shrugged. 

Bumblebee beeped and Optimus nodded. “Thank you, Jazz.”

* * *

Jazz honked his horn when Raf appeared on the sidewalk. The human waved and ran over.

“Hey little buddy, Bumblebee’s grabbin’ some energon, and sent me to pick ya up,” Jazz said, opening the passenger door. 

“You’re Jazz, right?” Raf asked as he climbed inside. 

“The one and only! And you’re Raf, right?”

“Yeah!”

“Pretty cool how you can understand Bee the way you do.”

“Yeah, I don’t know why, but I’m really glad.”

“He is too.”

“Did you know Bee on Cybertron?”

“For sure! I remember Bee joining under Optimus. We hit it off pretty quick. He was a fun lil bot- still is.”

“How did you meet Optimus?” Raf asked. 

“I knew Optimus before he was a Prime. “

“Really?” 

“Yup. We both worked in Iacon’s Hall of Records and when the war kicked up, I was right there with him.”

“So you were both librarians?”

“Something like that. I worked a lot in the cultural sections. Speaking of, Earth’s cultures are fascinating- especially the music here!”

Raf laughed.

“What do you like to listen to little man?”

“Lot’s of things! I like a lot of electronic sounding stuff.”

“Hmm, something like this?” the dial on Jazz’s radio adjusted and music spilled out of it.

* * *

When Jazz and Raf returned to base, Jack and Miko were crowded around the TV, watching videos. Ratchet rolled his eyes at the noise and laughter, but Jazz moved closer. 

“What are these?”

“Dude! They’re vines,” Miko said. 

“I thought vines were plants?”

“Not these,” Raf explained, “They’re short, usually funny, videos. Sometimes I replace Cybertronian sightings on the internet with them.”

“Huh…” Jazz leaned against the railing to watch. 

Miko, Jack, and Raf shared a grin

**Author's Note:**

> suh dudes
> 
> lemme know whatcha think in the comments


End file.
